Minimart
by Ihasabukkit
Summary: Short Story: How long will it take for Duo to win Heero's respect, especially when just stealing supplies from a minimart warrants a gun pointed at his forehead?


Heero frowned as Duo strolled out of the minimart. Two plastic bags were hanging from the baka's hands.

Duo opened the door and flounced back into the driver's seat. "Oi, Heero, did I get the goods." A strange train of product began appearing out of the bag. "Ten Snickers, pack of ration bars, some of those crazy caffeine drinks they import from outside Sanq, hell, I even got a roll of bandaids for your arm." He plopped the bandaids and a Snickers onto Heero's lap. "Go at it, soldier man."

Heero graced the boy with a death glare. "You stole this."

"Duh." Duo grinned at him as he started the engine. "Got a moral quandary with that, Mr. Terrorist? But let's get going; we have stuff to blow up."

There was an uneasy silence as the beater truck merged back onto the two-lane highway. Duo kept a fixed smile on his face. He knew what was coming.

"That could have compromised the mission."

"Chill, Heero. You have trust me a little bit. I am your partner. Well, at least until you decide to shoot me."

"You're unprofessional. The clerk will notice the theft within the day, and the security cameras will show your face." Heero snarled at Duo with sudden rancor. "Smiling idiot."

Duo's smile never faltered, but his grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Maybe you still underestimate me, perfect soldier man."

A gun was suddenly pointing at Duo's head. "Turn back."

Duo froze, and with it his smile melted. "Put the gun down, man."

Instead Duo heard the familiar sound of the safety being clicked off. "Turn back."

"So you can what, go back and blow the fucking gas station up?"

Heero snarled again, and in one lightning fast movement, slammed the butt of the gun into Duo's stomach. Duo felt a vice-grip on his throat, and found himself staring at the gear shift and gasping for air. With inhuman speed, Heero released Duo's throat and pinned Duo's arm behind him.

"Shi-" Duo gasped as Heero shoved his arm. "You're gonna fucking break my arm, idiot-"

"I'm going back to fix your mistake."

Hurt, and furious at the feeling of being helpless, Duo craned his head back to snarl at his partner. "You idiot, there is no mistake!! There are no freakin' witnesses, there was no theft, there is no fucking video tape!" Duo spat. "Why won't you guys ever trust me?"

Duo started to struggle, but a bone wrenching twist from Heero made him decide against it. Instead, he took a deep breath. "Heero, pull the car and I'll explain it, ok? I don't want you to kill somebody for no reason; you just have to let me explain."

Duo waited anxiously in the brief pause, waiting for Heero's reaction. He breathed a sigh of relief when the truck slowed. Heero didn't let him go, but twisted his body so that they had completely switched positions. They had pulled off the road into an abandoned rest stop.

"Explain."

"Lower the gun first, man."

Heero glared, but did as asked, giving Duo's arm a jerk in the process. Duo couldn't stop a hiss of pain. Great, he thought. All he needed was for his shrapnel wound to open up again.

"Explain how you are not on security tapes." Heero jerked his arm again.

"Fuck, man. I am not on the effing tapes because none of the camcorders were running, kapish?"

"How."

"Parked in the blind spot behind that bush, remember? Went to pee, and I broke into the electronic closet, short-circuited the camera wires."

"The cameras are attached to normal outlets. You couldn't tell which ones they were."

"They always attach surveillance cameras to emergency generators. It wasn't hard to find the wires." Duo chuckled through the pain. "I killed the slurpee machine too, some trucker is going to be pissed; ow, shi-" Heero gave a truly violent wrench to the arm, and Duo screwed his eyes shut and hissed.

"The clerk knows your face. He can report you to the authorities."

"He won't because I didn't steal anything!" Duo gave a slightly hysteric giggle. "I told him the slurpee machine was broken, and I pickpocketed the gorram cash register. When he came back, I payed for the stuff with his own money, completely legit. He won't report the money loss, because his boss will think he'd been the one sneaking the twenties. See? Now can I have my arm back?"

Thank god, Duo thought, as the pressure on his arm slowly let up. He sat up slowly. Heero stared at him with a strange expression, and Duo logged it away; one more Yuy face needing a clear translation. Now he only needed a Rossetta Stone.

Duo looked at Heero suspiciously as he rubbed his arm. "So no blowing up civilian gas stations?"

To Duo's surprise, Heero actually broke eye contact first.

"Hn."

As if nothing had happened, Heero turned the key in the ignition and pulled back onto the highway.

Duo tested the waters. "So, I suppose you won't mind if I take those Snickers back?"

"Unhealthy."

"Bull, ain't you ever been really hungry before? You got peanuts for protein, pure sugar for energy, and tons of caffeine. Soldier food."

Heero didn't respond, which didn't surprise Duo in the least. Heck, he didn't even know why he kept trying. There was somebody underneath the scary ass soldier, and he figured it was human. Well, at least he hoped so, or he was courting his death. Not that Duo ever did otherwise.

Heero's eyes flicked over as Duo chuckled. Duo didn't miss the sign, and took it that things were cheering up again.

"Well, don't mind if I eat my booty then. You too, man. It's been, what, forty hours since we ate?" Duo bent over the bag, and froze his arm with a sudden hiss. "Well, shit." He felt wetness seeping into his black shirt.

"You're injured."

"Nothing bad. At least I picked up bandages."

Heero shot him a questioning glance, and Duo thought he detected something new…guilty? Worry? Gol, where was that stone.

"Piece of shrapnel got me in that last explosion," he explained. "Nothing deep, but I just reopened it." Duo picked up a candy bar with his good hand and sat back with a grunt. "Hey, we should hotwire a new car soon. Just to make sure."

"Hn."

"Heero, your arm is bleeding again, too. Shit. Here don't move, I'll bandage it at the stoplight."

"It's fine."

"You've lost enough blood already, might as well stop it now-"

"It's fine."

Duo threw up his hands in exasperation, and then winced at the gesture. "Alright, Heero. Sorry; I forgot you were super human for a sec."

Another silence settled in the car, and Duo held back a sigh. Silence was not his cup of tea, and he guessed that Heero would not be in the mood for idle chatter. He found himself wishing that Heero hadn't taken over the driving. At least that would have kept him occupied.

Well, at least he could muse over this latest expression of mistrust from the pilot. Duo tried to pretend it didn't hurt; but he sucked at lying, even to himself. In a moment of stupidity, Duo had told Heero about his past; growing up in the streets, living hand to mouth, devoid of any education or instruction for the majority of his young life. To Heero, he was just a civilian, and worse than that, an untrained, impulsive, loud, obnoxious, untrustworthy civilian. He "stood out". Too bad Heero didn't realize that _he _was the one who stood out, prowling around with his "touch me and I'll kill you" stare. It was the very traits that Heero scorned in Duo that he knew made him so successful at what he did; infiltration, being absolutely invisible even in plain sight, blending in to crowds, gaining the trust of anybody and everybody. And then shooting them. Not that Heero would ever appreciate that, Duo thought grimly.

He was so tired of being second-guessed, treated like an idiot just for his grinning mask. He'd thought Heero would be able to see right through, see _him_, because of the strange similarities in their situation; but this only proved that he was being stupid, or overly hopeful. Heero would never completely trust him, or appreciate his skills, his guts, what he sacrificed-

"Are you always that careful?"

Duo blinked at Heero in surprise. "…Huh?"

Heero glanced over briefly. "As careful as you were at the minimart."

Duo allowed his partner's unusual verbosity to register, and then thoughtfully considered.

"Well….yeah, when I can afford the time. It's always the little things that keep you alive." He blinked back over at Heero. "And I'm always that careful when I'm responsible for the perfect soldier's wellbeing. Wouldn't sit easy on me if I was responsible for you getting caught. I mean, well….you're a pretty impressive fighter, and I don't think the colonies could afford to lose you." Duo picked at his sleeve awkwardly, and then grinned. "Even though I am a better pilot."

"Hn."

Another silence befell the truck, and Duo accepted it rather gratefully. A talkative Heero was nice, for sure, but it was a little unnerving; hardly worth getting used to it.

"Did I….hurt you?"

Duo's jaw dropped. Had Heero Yuy just asked about his wellbeing? He half expected to turn around a find two pink Gundams doing the tango. Once again, he considered the question, and this time he decided to fudge the answer.

"Uh, well, I think I have some finger shaped bruises, but nothing too bad. Nothing a day won't fix."

Duo glanced over and he swore he saw a look of regret cross Heero's face; maybe he was hallucinating with the lack of food and sleep, but still, there was definitely something.

He suddenly felt rather awkward, and slumped back into his seat. "I'll drive whenever you want a break, man. Little caffeine, and I'll be alert as ever, eh?"

Heero nodded.

Duo spared one more bemused glance at the soldier, and then settled in for a catnap. This was going to be a very interesting mission.


End file.
